Where do you get your decorating/style ideas?
Lavender Lass
9 years ago
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nhbaskets
9 years agoLavender Lass
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Do you get tired of constantly defending your ideas?
Comments (16)Jenk  as owner builders doing lots of new building science in an area famous for not changing... yeah, we had a lot of resistance from various subs. We found it helped to do two things. First - try not to see their questions as criticism or the sub not wanting to do it your way, but that they just may have not heard about the way you want it done. (even with the subs who really just donÂt want to do it a new way, it helps YOUR state of mind). Put it to them in those terms  "I know itÂs new to this area" (thus they are not expected to know about it) "but weÂre really set on doing it this way for these reasons." And while you may not feel like you should have to explain your reasons, you will get better work if they feel like part of the process. Trades people are not all stubborn mules against learning something new. Second  know what you are talking about  if you are vague nobody is going to take you or your ideas seriously. Graphics and visual aids are helpful if itÂs really new. When we discussed our plans to insulate our crawlspace walls (virtually unheard of in this county/state), we showed the people involved the drawings and research on the method. It took some arm twisting to get the county inspectors behind the idea but between the printed sheets and calm discussions they approved the finished work. Our HVAC people loved the idea and now they recommend it to other people. They hadnÂt heard of it before our house, but we presented in a way that they felt they didnÂt need to defend their experience. Even in the "just how you want it" stuff itÂs not always a matter of Âmy-way-itisÂ. We did two walk throughs with our electrician before he would string one wire. On both trips he would ask us, Âwhy do want this here? and Âhow about having that there?Â. This wasnÂt to discourage us from what we wanted, but to find out what our reasons were so he could make suggestions. He had wired enough houses to know what people tend to regret later, and he made some great suggestions that we went with. The stuff I was sure of I had reasons for and it didnÂt bother me to explain them to him. I hope this helps, and good luck!...See MoreWhat do you do in the mean time when you're decorating stuck?
Comments (6)Seriously, Honestly? I go to the Gallery and spend hours and hours going over all the latest pictures that Oceanna posted. Today, a little over 3 hours at the Gallery (Gee, thanks Oceanna! *wink*). Got nothing, zippo, nada done. Way too many ideas doing Funny Car crashes in my grey matter for me to make a firm decision on my projects so might as well go look-see everyone elses projects. Actually, truth be told there is no name for my 'style'. Believe me, I've searched. No way to describe it online so that I can get a decent search going. Because there is no name for my style, I come to a point where I get stuck ----- (the fact that my ideas have to be done on a miniscule budget makes it all that more difficult.) Kitchen not finished --- going on 15 months. Backyard/Garden Decor not done --- going on 7 months. Family Room not done --- going on 20 months. Sunroom not done --- going on 28 months. Master Bedroom not done -- going on 9 months. (Won't count the Master bath because in all fairness, we just started it. But I'm sure I'll come to a grinding halt there, too.) Why? Because I'm stuck, can't make a decision and stick to it because I can't find ideas for what I see in my mind's eye. I know there's got to be inspiration out there for what I'm trying to create but so far, haven't found it. I get ideas, tips and opinions from all the talented folks here and put them into play and all starts looking good but to head to the finish line? Nope. Isn't happening. So, I go to all the neato new photos on the Gallery side, thanks to Oceanna, kill a ton of time and not get a thing accomplished. Then I feel guilty for not accomplishing anything and I start the whole process over again. Amity, who is heading over to the gallery, again. lol...See MoreDo you actually know your decorating style?
Comments (80)segbrown- Unless you live in Maine, you probably wouldn't recognize him. He does some residential but mostly schools and libraries and art galleries at universities and stuff. My brother, on the other hand, is all over Google. He works at Snohetta in Oslo, Norway and has won a few important competitions for his rather out-there designs. And my dad's wife is also an architect in Boston! It's nice to have architects in the family, but it really puts the pressure our renovations--- are they up to their standards? ;)...See MoreHow do you keep your TV from sucking the life out of your decor?
Comments (38)A few years ago, DH asked for a giant flat screen tv for Father's Day ~ so sweetly and pitifully, that I couldn't say no . . . although I wanted to! The problem was that our family room has only one (semi)unbroken wall to it and anything on that wall competes with our hand-painted kiva fireplace in the corner right next to it. AND, to complicate matters even more, that wall (pretty much the entire house, actually) is made of real adobe bricks, which look awesome but are a bear to try and hang anything even kind of heavy on. Too heavy or put a nail in at the wrong angle and you can end up with a 3" wide and deep hole, where adobe dirt and hay fell out of the brick . . . and you can forget ever hanging anything on that brick again, even once it's patched! I really wanted an EC like Goldie's that had a wood back to hang the tv on, but it would have totally overwhelmed the room :~( A great credenza, like Haley's or Bepeace's, would have been nice but I was afraid to hang the tv on the adobe wall and I couldn't find one to hold ~AND HIDE~ all of our DVDs, tapes, and components. I wasn't so concerned with hiding the tv, but thought that the components and DVDs would clutter up the area too much. And then we found a tv lift console that solved all our problems- it hides lots of stuff inside of it and the tv sits down in it, as well, when we aren't watching it. When it's down, it doesn't compete with our fireplace, which is a huge bonus in our small family room! I do have to tell you, though, that it was a huge PIA to actually get that tv hung on the console's hanging bars! But now that it's done, we love it. The motor is quiet and smooth and the remote easy to use. Another downside, for anyone contemplating buying one, is that you can't put anything on the top of the console, decoration-wise, as the back two-thirds of the top section opens up as the tv slides up. We bought a narrow tower to sit next to it and I have a lamp on that. We also have a set of three framed Indian artifacts that we've hung over the console. They were a huge PIA to center, but they work with the kiva instead of competing with it. So, that's one more solution to consider, not so much to hide your tv, as ours seems to be up more than it's down like most people, I guess, but it is a tv hanging/storage place. I do want to make it VERY clear that I'm not criticizing leaving a tv out on display all the time. I think it's a perfectly ok thing to do. I just wanted to show you another option for any flat screen tv and explain why we went with this option. Lynn Our flat screen up, before we hung our art over it: And with the tv down:...See Moreamck2
9 years agoLavender Lass
9 years agoraee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
9 years agochristina222_gw
9 years agolaughablemoments
9 years agojdez
9 years agoalley2007
9 years ago
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